Apparatus for destructive distillation.



. :APPARATUS FOR 4DESTRUCTIVE DISULLATION.

APPLCATIN F'ILED FEB. 15| |916.

Mmm 12 19m @Voir 1.111.811111Esy- APPARATUS FOR DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION.

vWPHC/111011 1111511 158.15, 1916. v v 'I tentd De@ 12,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JIES W'IEEI'INEY BARNES, 0F LAKE GHARLES, LUKSIMA.

PRATUS FOR, DESTRUCTJEVE JDIS'IJL'JLIATIN. i

f ltpeclncation of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. d2, luid..

application nlcdl February l5, i916. Serial No. 755,413.

- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that ll, JAMES W. BARNES, a

citizen of the llnited States, `and a resident of Lake Charles, in the parish of Calcasieu .lll

and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Apparatus for Destructive Distillation, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for destructive distillation, especially the destructive distillation of wood, and it consists in the combiuiations,l constructions, and arrangements herein described and claimed. v

dn object of my invention is to provide a device by means of which the destructive distillation of wood 0r other similar organic bodies may be carried out with greater economy than heretofore.

A further object of my invention is to provide an apparatus of the type described in which the heat may be controlled, thereby eliminating the burning of the product, the

formation of products with objectionable odors, and making, in fact, a more uniform'l product. l

A furtherobj'ect of'my invention is to provide a device from which the 'various prodnets may be removed, as they are generated.

.d further object of my invention is to pro-fA vide a device which may be operated at ordivarious parts of the device, ythe operation nary atmospheric pressure.'

@ther objects and advantages will ,appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims. ldy invention is illustrated in theaccoini jpanying drawings forming part of this apchamber.

plication, in whichv ligure l is a sectional view of the retort, a condensing tank being shown in side ele vation. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus, and lT-ig. 3 is a plan view of the lower portion of the apparatus, the retort being 1 shown in section. p

ln carrying out my invention ll provide a furnace l having dues 2 whichlead theref n from. Disposed above the furnace is a re-" tort 3 which issurroundejd by a casing el 4 made of hea-t insulatings'nlaterial, the space between the casing and the retort being for the products of combustion which tendto. heat the retort and to effect the destructive distillation. .dit 5 ll have shown a cold air Extending from the top of the retort is a y.pipe 6 for carrying od' vapors and gases. ht

7 is shown a condenser which is connected with a similar condenser nected with the condensers 9 and 10, so that the sets 7, 8, 9, and 10 At the bottom of the retort 3 is a pipe l1 which leads to a tar stilll 12. A pipe 13 leads from the top of the latter to a condenser 14, this condenser 11i being one of a set of condensing tanks ld, l5, 16, and 17 which are also connected in series. f

At 1S and 19 ll have shown two tanks, one being connected with the condenser l0 by means ofthe pipe 20, and the other bein l connectedwith the condenser 17 by means oli the pipe 2l. Both of these tanks 18 and 19 are connected with an exhaust, fan or similar suction apparatus 22. "lhelatter com- @with a condensing cylinder or tank 27. 'llhe latter is connected by means of the pipes 28 `and 29 witha cooling coil 30 disposed inl thev retort 3, a return ipe 3l leading to the condensing pump.

i 'will he seen from fhg. l, branch pipes 32 and 33 lead from the pipe 29 to the condensing coils-or cooling coils l3d 'and 35- which are disposedin the vtanks 17 and l0 respectively.

llrom the foregoing descriptionv ofthe thereof may be readily understood.

We will assume that the material to be operated upon is pine wood, although the material. lhe material having been placed in the retort 3, a fire ftive distillation of pinewood, inthe order named: -l. .Water with a smallquantity of acid. 2. 'Various grades' of turpentine.l

3. Acid. gd. lPine oil.' 5. Rosin spirits. 6.

Rosin oil. 7. lilas, which consists largely of' .carbon diorid and carbcuiiufmnoirid.v 'dill residue ofcoaljv cessively through the` condensers 8, 9, and qld, the gases losing heat m their passage and the products condensing out in va- 8, this being conapparatus is not confined to'an'y particular i is started in the fur- 4 nace. 'llhe fuel for this lire maybe gas or 95.1

lllld liti fl'branch pipe 25 leadsfto acondensing `pump 26A having communication .n n. ma 'llhe volatile products-pass through the 'pipe 6 first into the condenser 'l `*where the y vheavier `portions of the' volatile products are. condensed. the lighter portions passing suc- .f y

liti

rious condensers in the order of their specific gravities. It will be noted that the condenser is provided with a cooling coil. The means by which this coil is operated, Will be explained later. The gas passes through the pipe and into the tank 18. This tank, as well as the tank 19, contains Water in which chemicals for purifying the gas may l be held.l From the tanks 18 and 19, the gas these coils, the gas absorbs a great deal of the heat, thus cooling olf tlie retort. Since these cooling coils 30 are under the direct control of the operator, it will be seen that the heat in the retort may be controlled veryl accurately. It will be noted that the condensing cylinder 27 is also connected by means of the pipe 29 with the cooling coils 34 and 35 in the tanks 17 and 10, so that these cooling coils may also be controlled. The cooling coil 30 in the retort 3 and the cooling coils 34 and 35 in the tanks 17 and 10 have exhaust pipes 31 which connect with a common exhaust pipe 32. The pipes 29 leading to the coils 30, 34 and 35'are cold pi es while the pipes31 are the hot pipes.

IJuring all of'the process of distillation from the beginning to the end, tar is produced, and this tar is withdrawn through 'the pipe 11 and passesV into the tar still, from which the vapors may be taken by the pipe 13 into the series of condensers 14, 15, l16, and 17. The operation of these condensers is similar to that already described in connection with the condensers 7 to 10 inclusive, the heavier products condensing lin the first condensers and the gas finally passing from the condenser 17 into the tank 19, and thence being drawn off by the fan or suction member 22.

4The exhaust'fan is in operation during the entire process. By the use of this exhaust fan I am enabled to effect the distillation of certain products at a lower pressure than ordinary.

The gas rening tanks serve a double i fimction, or rather, a triple function. In

the first place, they tend to wash the gas, that is to say, they abstract from the gas certain products whichl are soluble in the water thereby rendering the gas purer. The

soluble products thus extracted may be recovered in the form of by-products which are valuable, and thus the tanks are availand from there passedroughgthe pipe "29 to'the `A of the products, and the imparting to the able for the formation of new products. There is a third use, however, for the tanks 18 and 19. It will be observed that the gaseous products which pass through the pipe 6 eventually find their way into the tank 18, while the products which pass up through the pipe 13 mayiind their way into the tank 19. By regulating the height of the water in the tanks 18 and 19, I am enabled to regulate the proportion of gas passing through the exhaust fan 22 from one series or the other of the condensers. Thus, if there is a relatively small amount of Water in the tank 19, then the greater portion of the gas will be drawn through the tank l91than. through the tank 18. These tanks, therefore, form virtually governors for controlling the amount of gas drawn through the two branches.

In Fig. 1 I have shown the gas bell diagrammatically, but it will be understood that any form of bell may be used. I have also illustrated the device as being heated by a furnace having grate bars for solid fuel, but the gas from the gas bell 24 might y be piped into the furnace so as td heat the retort without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

In this device it is seen that I have provided an arrangement in which the heat is controlled, the removal of the products from the retort being accomplished as fast as the products are formed. The cooling of the retort at will prevents the burning of certain products of burn odors. There is another feature which adds to the desirability of this arrangement, and that is that after the retort has been used, that is to say, when the process is completed, the retort may be cooled so that the contents of the retort may be removed and the retort again placed in operation. This can be done in much less time than in the ordinary rocess where the retort is allowed to cool offP gradually.

I claim 1. The herein described apparatus for destructive distillation which comprises a retort, means for heating the same, means at one end of the retort for carrying off the vapor, means for fractionally condensing the vapor, means at the opposite end of the retort for carrying od the liquid porducts, means for heating the liquid products, means for condensing fractionally the heated vapor from the liquid products, a common gas bell, a suction device disposed between said common gas bell and each set of condensers for withdrawing the gas from each of the sets of condensers, and means for regulating the temperature of the retort.

2. The herein described apparatus for destructive distillation which comprises a retort, means for heating the same, means at one end of the retort for carrying off the neonata vapor, means for fractionally condensing the vapor, `means at the opposite end of the retort for carrying off the liquid products, means for heating the. liquid products, means for condensing fractionally the heated vapor from the liquid products, a common gas bell, a suction device disposed beltween said common gas bell and each set of condensers for withdrawing the gas 'from each of the sets of condensers, means for regulating the temperature of the retort, and means for cooling certain of said condensers.

3. The herein described apparatus for destructive distillation, which comprises a retort, means for heating the retort, a pipe at the top of the retort for conveying'away vapors of distillation, a pipe at the bottom of the retort for conve'ylngaway liquid products, a set of condensers for fractionally condensing the vapor products, means for vaporizing the liquid products, a set of condensers for said llast named products,

' an exhaust fan having communication -with each set of condensers, a gas bell connected with said exhaust fan, a gas condenser having communication with said gas bell and with said exhaust fan, a cooling coil disposed within the retort and having com# munication with said gas condensing device,

andmeans for controlling the flow of. gas.

into said cooling coil.

4. 'The herein described apparatus for destructive distillation, which comprises` a retort, means :tor heating the same, means at one end of the retort for carrying of the vapor, means for fractionally condensing the vapor, means at the opposite end of the.

of said condensers, said means comprising a cooling coil within the retort, a cooling coil for each of the said condensers, a gas condenser pump, and a condenser cylinder communicat-ing with said gas bell and said suction device, and cooling pipes. connecting said condenser cylinder with the cooling coils in said retort and in said condensers.

JAMES WHITNEY BARNES. 

